Las Vegas, January 2010. The 2010 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) filled the Las Vegas Convention Center with all manner of new, useful and fun technology. Last column (check www.norma-tony.com) focused on e-Readers and advances in flat panel TVs. Here’s more of what we saw in technology:

Home automation and control now make it possible to control home lighting, heating, air-conditioning, security alarms, security cameras, home entertainment (both sound and TV) from a wireless remote control, wall-mounted panels or via the Internet. Control4 (www.control4.com) has brought the various competing home automation formats together in their new system. The system is expandible, so you can set up controls for as many or as few options as you want. Using a simple standard interface, you have access to whatever you want from wherever you are in your home or around the world, all at much more reasonable prices than earlier systems. The demo we saw was amazing, and we definitely want one of these for our home. The systems are currently available for install by dealers only, but the company is working out a DYI system.

High capacity home servers were on display from companies such as Verbatim, LG, Netgear and others. These 500GB (gigabyte) to 4TB (terabyte) hard drives provide the capacity you’ll need to hold video, music, photos, doc files and much more; they can also "serve" them out via your home network to your PC, audio system and TV and can be accessed across the Internet as well. Most come with software to make the whole process work and often include backup software as well.

"Green" was much in evidence, with all the major manufacturers touting 20% - 30% improvements in energy efficiency of their TVs or other consumer products. At the corporate level, many companies displayed their efforts at reducing carbon footprints in their manufacturing processes, packaging and recycling efforts. For example, Powergenix (www.powergenix.com), by reformulating their rechargeable battery chemistry, was able to produce a 100% recyclable battery, the NiZn, now available in "AA" size, with other sizes coming soon. The battery is rated at 1.6 V, so it will as a bonus provide more power than other rechargeable batteries, making it especially useful in high current drain devices such as digital cameras.

And of course there are the gadgets. Way cool is the ZOMM (www.zomm.com), a wireless leash for your mobile phone that saves you from misplacing your cell phone. Once paired with your phone using Bluetooth, the Zomm can preform several functions: if you stray from the phone by more than a few feet, ZOMM sounds an alarm; as a hands-free speaker phone, with a large button to answer a call; as a security device, a push of a button instructs your phone to call 911. All this packed in a two-inch round flat fob.

More to come from CES 2010. Stay tuned.